10,000MW to be added to national grid by early 2018: Dar

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Finance Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar said that the government would bring the country out of energy crisis by end of 2017 or early 2018 as 10600 MW electricity would be brought to the national grid.

“Currently we are facing a shortfall of about 5000 MW of electricity whereas energy projects of 24000 MW were under process”, Ishaq Dar said while addressing a ceremony organised by Old Hailians Association here.

He said the remaining projects of 14000 MW would also be brought to the system by 2020 which would help in boosting economic activity and industrialisation in the country.

He said that two mega hydro power projects, Dasu and Diamir Bhasha Dams were also under progress which would not only help in overcoming energy crisis in the country but it would also provide huge water reservoir.

“Diamir Bhasha Dam would have capacity of 1.3 trillion cubic feet of water which would help in improving agriculture sector”, he added.

Moreover, he said that the government was also working on civil nuclear energy projects and in seven years 1000 MW electricity would be included in the system through civil nuclear energy project.

He informed that before 2013, the country was on the verge of being defaulter as the foreign exchange reserves went down to below US $8 billion and no international monetary institution was ready to lend money to Pakistan.

He said after coming into power, the PML-N government worked really hard to bring the country out of crisis.

“Now within a short period of only two years, the country has made immense progress as the energy crisis has considerably eased, country’s forex reserves have touched record $20 billion, fiscal deficit has come down from 8.8 per cent to 5 per cent, inflation rate has eased from above 10 per cent to record 1.3 per cent”, he added.

Moreover, he informed that the tax to GDP ratio had also increased from 9 per cent to 11 per cent and revenue growth rate had also surged from 3 per cent to 15 per cent.

He said now the world renowned fiscal institutions were praising the amazing development in Pakistan’s economy and they have rated the Pakistan’s economy as stable.

He said if the Pakistan continues its progress which it had witnessed during previous two years, it would become the world’s 18th major economy in 17 years.

The Minister said the PML-N was strictly implementing its manifesto announced during the general election 2013 in which it vowed to bring four challenges out of crisis.

“The country was facing 4 Es challenges ( Economy, Energy, Education and Extremism) at the time the PML-N government came into power and now due to prudent policies of the government the country had came out of these crisis”, he added.

Ishaq Dar said that the country had immense potential and huge national and human resources and if utilised wisely and sincerely it can become one of the world’s developed countries.

He also highlighted the progress of ongoing operation Zarb-e-Azb stating that the Armed Forces were successfully moving ahead and over 80 per cent work had been done.

He said that in Karachi and Balochistan too, peace had returned due to the ongoing operation Zarb-e-Azb against terrorism in the country.

Ishaq Dar said that the opponents of PML-N were facing difficulty in digesting the development of the country and they were out to sabotage the PML-N government’s efforts in bringing reforms in the country.